Our History

Plug In America was formed to raise public awareness of, and to advocate for, plug-in transportation. We take our inspiration from earlier campaigns which saved over 1,000 of 5,000 production electric cars from being destroyed by the same automakers who put these great, emission-free cars on the road. Those campaigns were led by individuals (organized around websites of various names) who coalesced as a chapter of the non-profit Electric Auto Association and then founded Plug In America as a separate non-profit on January 2, 2008. Read more about Plug In America's past.

Ford Ranger EV On January 14, 2005 Ranchers Dave Raboy and Heather Bernikoff, DontCrush.com, William Korthof of EE Solar & Rainforest Action Network's JumpstartFord spearheaded a successful vigil. Public awareness grew quickly with state and national coverage. In just more than one week Ford responded, and 150 Ranger EV electric pickups were SAVED! Ford ends crushing; Leaseholders win purchase rights and the successful movements to save Ford Think City NEVs and Toyota RAV4 EVs were inspired.

GM EV1 On February 16, 2005, Kyoto Protocol Day, using the name SaveEV1.org, we began a 24-hour vigil at GM in Burbank, California, to protect the last remaining 78 EV1 cars from being destroyed. General Motors had reclaimed their entire fleet of leased electric cars against the wishes of drivers and quietly crushed nearly all of them, despite an offer by SaveEV1.org of $1.9 million to purchase the remaining cars. GM broke the 28 day round-the-clock vigil by hauling away these last cars for destruction at their Mesa, AZ test site. To learn more, see the story chronicled in "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

Toyota RAV4 EV On June 1, 2005, DontCrush.com began a campaign to pressure Toyota to keep their electric cars on the road. Strong public support, public education about RAV4 EV destruction and a high level Dontcrush / Toyota Motor Sales meeting at Torrance Headquarters forced Toyota to agree. The result: Toyota agreed to allow purchase and lease renewal of the remaining RAV4 EVs. Most of those dependable all-electric vehicles remain on the road today.

Ford Th!nk City In August of 2004, the Ford Norway headquarters was taken over by Greenpeace. 300 Th!nk City electric cars were SAVED! Ford, which had purchased Th!nk in 1999, planned to close the small company and destroy remaining Th!nk City cars. After the activism, Ford agreed to send EVs back to Norway, not to the crusher. Ford also agreed to sell the electric car company to a Norwegian buyers, allowing the company to remain in the EV business.

Today, Plug In America continues to bring awareness of the benefits and capabilities of plug-in electric cars and plug-in hybrids. We publicly advocate to industry, and local and national politicians, for plug-in transportation powered by cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity. To find out how you can help, visit our Take Action page.